Advair Sales Threatened

Dealing a blow to multinational drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a German court has ruled that the patent on its blockbuster cancer therapeutic Advair (fluticasone + salmeterol) is not valid. BMI notes that Advair generated GBP4.98bn (US$7.70bn) in sales for GSK in 2009, making it the drugmaker's bestseller and accounting for 21% of GSK's total pharmaceutical revenues. Sales worth GBP2.59bn (US$4.01bn) were generated in the US, followed by GBP1.61bn (US$2.49bn) in Europe and GBP0.776bn (US$1.20bn) in the rest of the world. In 2009, sales in Germany reached a value of

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